Summer at Hermiones
by Darkened Redemption
Summary: Takes place after HalfBlood Prince and before Deathly Hallows. Hermione and Ron take a last ditch attempt at enjoying the last of their youth and possibly their lives before the impending battle with Voldemort.
1. Too Long Introduction

**Chapter One: Too Long Introduction**

It was a strangely cold for summer. The sky was overcast;  
dark storm clouds littered the sky and formed a kind of  
umbrella which prevented most of the warm sun rays from  
getting through. The atmosphere was eerie, and a feeling  
of gloom seemed to hang over everything and everyone.

A lone figure could be seen standing at one of the  
second-floor windows of a semi detached house, her brown  
hair bushy hair making her appear larger and easy to spot  
from a distance. Her face was young, but had a hardened  
look about it which indicated she had not had smiled in  
many days. Hermione Granger was staring up at the darkened  
sky, but due to the absence of the sun, her mood was not  
lifted even slightly. On the contrary, it made her feel  
worse. It had been only 3 days since she had returned home  
from Hogwarts; three days since the term ended early after  
Dumbledore's burial.

Hermione walked absentmindedly over to her bed and flung  
herself face down on top of the covers. She buried her  
face in her pillow; the pink, fluffy type with lace around  
the edges that you would never find on a male's bed; and  
she tried to blink back the tears that were always on the  
verge of falling since she arrived home. She rubbed her  
eyes on the pillow, a little forcefully perhaps. She had  
to learn to stop the tears. She had cried openly at  
Dumbledore's funeral, as did many people. She had come  
home and cried some more. The time had come for her to  
fight back the grief she had let take control of her,  
that she was powerless to stop sweeping over her, but  
now she had to be strong. There was a lot to do, what  
with the remaining horcruxes still out there, waiting  
to be found and destroyed. Harry would need her to be  
brave, and she was going to be.

She lifted her head out from her pillow and looked towards  
her bed-side table, where a framed moving photograph  
rested. Propping herself up onto her elbows, she reached  
out and clutched the frame in both her hands, then drew  
it back closer to her face. The picture showed herself,  
standing with her best friends on each side of her. Harry,  
slightly taller, was standing to the left of her in the  
photograph, while Ron, who was almost a full head taller  
than both of them, was to her right. They were all beaming  
and waving up at her, Ron with one of his arms slung over  
Hermione's shoulder, his bright red hair clashing  
brilliantly with his black school robes, and along with  
his height making him stand out vividly in the photograph.

Hermione grinned a little, as she watched her two friends  
waving and smiling, as though they had just won the  
Gryffindor house cup and the Quidditch cup to boot.  
Despite it having only been 3 days since she said goodbye  
to them on platform 9 and ¾, she missed them terribly.  
While her two male friends were not as overly helpful  
when dealing with feelings and sympathy the way girls  
are, she missed the friendship, the familiarity, and  
the hugs.

Her eyes lingered on Harry briefly, beaming and waving  
so furiously that he occasionally had to push his round,  
black-framed glasses back up onto the bridge of his nose.  
How would Harry be feeling now? He had returned to his  
Aunt and Uncle's house for probably the last time ever,  
as Dumbledore had instructed him to before his death,  
and Hermione was worried about what he must be going  
through, alone but for his Aunt and Uncle and his cousin  
Dudley; alone to ponder what had happened, and what  
was still to come.

Though they knew little about the wizarding world,  
Hermione's parents had been a valuable and  
understanding source of comfort to her those past 3  
days. Hermione had been careful in what she told her  
parents; she merely said her school's headmaster had  
died whilst neglecting to mention he was murdered.  
She did not want them to worry about her too much.  
The sympathy and support of two loving parents was  
something she knew Harry would not be receiving,  
especially from his horrid Aunt and Uncle.

Hermione shifted her gaze to Ron and watched him grin  
back at her. Ron had more things even than her to be  
miserable about right now. In addition to everything  
else, Ron and his family would be all worrying about  
Bill, Ron's most eldest brother, who had been victim  
of a unique werewolf attack. No one knew exactly what  
would happen; if Bill will become a werewolf himself,  
or if his mutilated face will ever be restored back  
to what it was; Hermione could not even guess how  
much the Weasleys must be suffering. She touched  
the photograph figure of Ron lightly with her thumb,  
and her heart wept for him.

She lay there on her bed for she doesn't know how  
long, thinking of many things, whilst trying not to  
think at all. She thought about Harry, about how  
long he would want to be left alone, to dwell on  
the loss of Dumbledore, and on the path he must  
soon take. She knew that, however reluctant,  
Harry planned to remain at Privet Drive for at  
least a week, which meant four more days at least.  
She had considered sending him a message by owl,  
or even calling him on the telephone a few times,  
to enquire on how he was coping, but she felt this  
was not a good idea.

Firstly, she knew Harry's Uncle would probably react  
angrily, possibly even violently, in response to  
Harry receiving any more telephone calls as he had  
years ago when Ron had called him. Secondly,  
though, Hermione knew that Harry had a lot to deal  
with, more than her and more than Ron, and she knew  
it would be best to let him get his thoughts into  
place and overcome his grief alone without her  
interference.

There was a gentle tap on the window, and Hermione  
jumped, startled but the sound which broke the  
silence. She turned and saw Pigwidgeon, Ron's  
tiny pet owl perched on the outside sill. Usually  
noisy and energetic, Hermione was surprised to  
find Pig so calm and well-behaved. Was even Pig  
feeling this sorrow that everyone else was? She  
got up off her bed and walked over to the window,  
opening it so that Pig could hop in.

"Hello, Pig, what do you have there?" asked  
Hermione softly, untying a scroll of parchment  
tied to his tiny leg. She unrolled it, and began  
to read:

_Hermione,_

I know this is probably the last thing on your  
mind right now, and I would not expect you to want  
to come over this soon, but Mum has asked me to  
invite you to stay, whenever you would like, or  
when you are ready. She says it must be tough for  
you there, without any other witches or wizards to  
talk to about... what happened. We understand if you  
do not want to, but the offer is there. She said we  
should wait a while before inviting Harry, though,  
what with the protection spell, and also needing  
time to himself.

Everyone here is busy. The wedding is still going  
ahead, and it is pretty hectic at times! Mum is  
almost going menta from the stress of arranging  
things, especially since she and Fleur keep  
disagreeing on stuff like the types of flowers  
to have at the wedding. I could use your company  
if you want to come.

Take care,  
Ron

Hermione finished reading the letter, then lowered  
the parchment. She had forgotten that the wedding  
was still taking place. It sounded like The Burrow  
would be really frantic. Hermione could just  
picture Mrs Weasley now, running around all over  
the place, shouting at everyone and trying to do  
a hundred things at once. She and Fleur would  
probably be on the verge of butting heads with  
all the disagreements. She grinned despite  
herself, then cast another look outside the  
window at the overcast sky. Maybe a trip to The  
Burrow is what she needed to distract herself,  
to take her mind off all the sorrow.

Hermione went to ask her parents if it was alright  
for her to go. Her parents shared a look of  
concerned and disappointed. Over the past 6 years  
they had watched her, their eldest daughter,  
slowly drift away from them, as though an  
invisible wedge had been driven between them.  
Mr and Mrs Granger, as muggles, knew little about  
the wizarding world, and although Hermione had  
often tried to explain to them about Hogwarts  
and magic and the like, they really did not  
understand it much. This contributed to the  
distance that had gradually grew between them.  
Despite all of this, they were very proud of  
Hermione, and they knew she could get the  
emotional support they could not provide her  
at The Burrow. They agreed to let her go,  
and so she rushed back upstairs to send a  
reply message to Ron via Pigwidgeon.

End of chapter 1

**Author's note**

Thanks for reading this chapter. This is an  
idea I came up with last night, and will  
like to continue if I get some positive  
feedback. Please review, I welcome all  
kinds of comments, whether they are  
positive, negative, pointing out spelling  
or grammatical errors, or incorrect facts  
about the Harry Potter books.


	2. The Burrow

**Chapter Two: The Burrow**

Hermione finished packing some clothes, books and other 'essentials'  
neatly into her trunk. Now 17 and legally an adult in the wizarding world,  
Hermione could use magic outside of school. She checked to ensure she had  
packed everything she would need, then waved her wand at the truck. It  
vanished; it was on its way to The Burrow. She walked downstairs to the  
living room, where her parents were sitting; her father reading a  
newspaper, and her mother reading a dental journal. Don't dentists ever  
go to work?

"Well, I am going now, Mum, Dad," Hermione said. Her parents stood up  
and took turns hugging her.

"Take care of yourself, dear," her mother said, whilst giving her  
daughter a long hug. "Try to have fun, and please come home soon before  
the holidays end. We want to have some time with you!" Hermione laughed  
and hugged her mother back tightly.

"I will. I promise to come back in a few days. I am just concerned  
about Ron and his family. His eldest brother Bill was recently injured,  
and he is engaged to be married this summer." Mr Granger's eyes narrow  
slightly, and he asked, with an air of suspicion, "Injured? How?"

Hermione hesitated and bit her lip. She really hated lying to her  
parents, but they had always been very protective of her, and if they  
knew about Voldermort and the war currently being waged in the wizarding  
world, they would be even more worried, perhaps to the extent that they  
forbade her to return to Hogwarts (not that she, Harry and Ron were even  
planning on returning, though she would never dare tell her parents that).

"Well... he was attacked," she said, slowly. "By a... wolf," she added.  
_Well_, she thought, _It is partially true. He was attacked by a wolf, of  
sorts._ Mr Granger regarded his daughter in silence for a moment.  
Regardless of the distance that may have grown between them, he knew  
when his little girl was lying to him. However, Hermione had always  
been well behaved as a child, always achieving top grades and never  
bringing home bad reports. She had never given him a reason to distrust  
her in the past, so he was going to give her the benefit of the doubt,  
this time.

"That is very unfortunate," he said solemnly. "I am sorry to hear  
that. Will he be alright in time for the wedding?"

"Yeah, I think so," Hermione said, truthfully. "He was already  
sitting up and eating when we left Hogwarts. Just his family are  
worried about his face. There may be some very bad permanent scarring.  
Though, his fiancee says she does not mind, so I guess along as he is  
healthy, everything is fine." _As long as he doesn't turn into a  
werewolf,_ Hermione added silently to herself.

"I had better be off now, my trunk will have arrived by now, and  
they will be expecting me to be not long behind it," Hermione said,  
forcing a bright smile onto her face, which she found very hard to do.  
"I love you both, see if you in a few days."

"Bye, darling," said her father.

"Take care, sweetie," said her mum, "and behave yourself. Be on  
your best manners!"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "I am not 8, you know," she said, a  
little grudgingly. "Bye for now!"

She waved at her parents, drew out her wand, and turned on the  
spot. With a noise that sounded like a car backfiring, she  
disapperated from her parent's living room. Hermione felt the  
familiar sensation that resembled being squeezed through a very tight  
tube, which she had grown used to through her apparition lessons, and  
suddenly she was standing in the backyard of The Burrow. She heard an  
angry shout and felt something beneath her feet. She looked down to  
find she had apparated right on top of a garden gnome.

"Oh, sorry!" Hermione said quickly, stepping off the squashed  
garden gnome. It stood up, brushed itself off, and flashed Hermione a  
rude hand gesture before running to the fence and jumping over it.  
Sighing, Hermione turned and walked up the steps to the back door of  
the house. She had to kick some of the Weasley's old muddy boots aside  
to reach the door, then she knocked three times and waited. From inside  
came the sound of muffled movement, then the curtain hanging over the  
window next to the door was pulled aside slightly, and a nervous voice  
spoke out. "Whose there?" the voice demanded somewhat feebly.

"It's Hermione," replied Hermione. The curtain fell back into place,  
and a moment later the door edged open slightly, and a wide eyed Mrs  
Weasley peered out at her.

"Oh, it is you, dear," Mrs Weasley said, relieved. "Come in, quickly  
now..." She held the door open slightly, and Hermione slipped in. Mrs  
Weasley closed the door behind her and slid the locks back into place,  
then turned to face Hermione, beaming.

"How are you, Hermione dear?" Mrs Weasley asked, giving her a brief  
hug. Mrs Weasley had obviously been doing some baking, for when she  
withdrew from the hug, some flour had bed rubbed off her apron onto  
Hermione's blouse. "Oh, I'm so sorry, dear," Mrs Weasley exclaimed, and  
she snatched up a nearby tea-towel and began wiping the flour on  
Hermione's blouse. "There, good as new!" she said after a few moments.

"Thankyou, Mrs Weasley," Hermione said, smiling politely. "And I am  
fine. How are things here?" she asked tentatively. Mrs Weasley's smile  
faltered slightly. "Things are... fine, also, dear," she said awkwardly.  
"We are coping as best we can, considering the circumstances." She  
seemed to be blinking more than usual, and her eyes looked slightly  
bloodshot. Hermione wisely decided to change the topic.

"Er... is Ron here?" she asked lamely. She felt rude and slightly  
stupid for changing the topic so quickly and with such an obvious  
question. She felt guilty for not offering words of comfort to Mrs  
Weasley, assuring her everything will be alright, but she was sure Mrs  
Weasley would have got enough reassurance from her husband and Lupin.  
Hermione also felt that any words of reassurance from her might come  
across as condescending.

"Yes, he is upstairs in his room," Mrs Weasley said. "Your trunk  
arrived just a few moments ago. I have sent it up to Fred and George's  
old room. I hope you do not mind sleeping there, you usually share with  
Ginny, don't you?"

"It is fine, Mrs Weasley," Hermione said. "I'll go up and see Ron  
now, if that is alright with you. I am sure you must be busy with all  
the wedding preparations, and I would not want to disturb you."

Mrs Weasley smiled. "That is fine, dear. Run along now." Just then,  
someone called out for her, and, after setting her jaw firm, she walked  
past Hermione and headed out into the living room, where Fleur Delacor  
sat surrounded by a bunch of open wedding books.

"Meezuss Weezlee," Fleur moaned, "Zer eez soo many to choose from,  
I don't know wheech to peek!" Hermione groaned. Feeling not at all in  
the mood to say hello to Fleur, which would be unavoidable as the stairs  
leading up where through the living room, Hermione decided she would  
instead apparate directly up to Ron's attic room. She hoped he was not  
mid way through getting dressed.

She turned on the spot and disapperated, appearing almost instantly  
in Ron's room with a loud crack! Ron was laying on his bed, reading a  
book about the Chudley Cannons. The sudden noise of Hermione's arrival  
made him jump with a start and he fell sideways off his bed, landing with  
a thunk on the hard wooden floor. "Blimey, Hermione!" he said angrily,  
pushing himself to his feet and rounding on her. "You couldn't have  
knocked?"

"Sorry," Hermione said, smirking slightly. "I just thought of all  
of those stairs, and figured it would just save time to apparate up  
here instead of walking."

"Show off," grumbled Ron. Unlike Hermione, he had failed to pass  
his apparation test, though just literally by an eyebrow, and was  
therefore not permitted to apparate until he re-took the test in July.  
"Just arrived, then?" he asked Hermione, sitting back down on his bed.

"Yes," she said, sitting down on the bed next to him. An awkward  
silence followed this. Despite 6 books having already been published,  
J.K Rowling has never described what Ron and Hermione talk about when in  
a situation where it is just the two of them.

"So, how have you been?" Hermione asked eventually. She found it hard  
to look at Ron for some reason.

"Yeah, not bad," Ron replied quietly. "And you?"

"I'm... fine," Hermione replied. More silence followed.

"How is Bill?" Hermione asked softly. Ron closed his eyes and let out  
a long, drawn out sigh. "He is not too bad. They still don't know if he  
is going to become a werewolf or not, or if those wounds on his face ever  
completely heal. But other than that, he is in high spirits. Still looking  
forward to the wedding," he added.

"Who else is here?" Hermione enquired.

"Just Ginny, mum, Fleur and me," Ron responded. "Dad's at work, Bill's  
at Saint Mungo's - they transferred him there from Hogwarts a few days ago  
- and they will keep him there for a few weeks, see if they can do anything  
for him." Hermione called see the worry in his face.

"Seen Fred and George lately?" Hermione asked. "Nope," Ron replied.  
"They've been really busy at the joke shop. Summer holiday's rush, they said.  
They've been using what little free time they've had to visit Bill at Saint  
Mungo's."

Silence again. "Heard from Harry?" Ron asked.

"No, have you?" Hermione said.

"Nah," said Ron. "Mum told me not to send him an owl either. Reckons he  
needs time to himself. But no matter what she says, I'm going to send him a  
birthday present. Just imagine having a birthday in that joint with the  
muggles!" Ron looked very disgusted at the very thought of it.

"Yeah, it must be tough on him," Hermione said gently. "Poor Harry. He  
has so much to deal with. Now Dumbledore's... now Dumbledore is... now without  
Dumbledore, it is all up to Harry to find the remaining horcrux. He has no  
one to help him."

"He's got us!" Ron said fiercely. "We can help him.."

"Yes, Ron. But we can't exactly tell him where the horcrux are, can we?  
I haven't got the faintest idea where they could be. Harry would know more  
than us." They looked at each other wearily and each was overcome with a wave  
of hopelessness. Finding the horcrux was going to be difficult, very  
difficult, and what with the grief of Dumbledore's murder at the hands of  
Snape and the attack on Bill by Fenrir Grayback, the situation just seemed  
too much to deal with.

"Look," said Hermione, massaging her temples with the tips of her  
fingers. "Let's try not to dwell on this now. Let's wait to see what Harry  
has to say. Until then, let's just.. let's just try to enjoy the summer." Ron  
looked at her for a moment, and then nodded.

"Yeah, good idea Hermione," he said. "I don't think my brain can handle  
thinking about it right now. I've barely slept in days, haven't even been  
outside since I got home."

"Well, the weather hasn't been very good recently," Hermione said, looking  
out the tiny window which represented the only part of the wall that did not  
have a bright orange Chudley Cannon's poster plastered on it, "But the weather  
seems alright out here. At least the sun is managing to get through a bit.  
Ron, why don't we go for a walk? You look really pale. You need a little sun."  
It was true; the parts of Ron's already pale skin not dotted with freckles  
was now exceptionally white, giving him a rather unhealthy look.

Ron looked out the window, shrugged, then stood up and followed Hermione  
out the door and down the stairs. Hermione meant to pop in and say hello to  
Ginny on their way past, but the door to Ginny's bedroom was shut.

"Ginny hasn't been out of her room since we got home," Ron murmured out  
of the corner of his mouth. "Mum's been bringing up all her meals. I think  
she is worried about Harry." Hermione nodded her agreement, and made a mental  
note to check in on Ginny later that evening.

Down stairs in the kitchen, Mrs Weasley was back to baking. Fleur could  
be heard still moaning in the living room. Ron and Hermione exchanged  
exasperated looks. They moved towards the door, and Ron had just started to  
undo the locks when Mrs Weasley noticed they were there.

"Where are you two going?" Mrs Weasley demanded, a little forcibly.

"For a walk," replied Ron. "We are allowed to do that, aren't we?" Mrs  
Weasley cast an anxious look out the kitchen window.

"Well, it is not too dark today. I suppose it will be alright. Just don't  
be too long, and don't go too far. Stay close to the house. If you are not  
back after a couple of hours, I'll worry something has happened to you."

"Right," Ron and Hermione said together. Ron resumed undoing the locks,  
then wrenched open the door and stepped out. Hermione followed a few steps  
behind him.

End of chapter 2

**Author's note**

**Thanks everyone who has reviewed so far. I would like to receive at  
least 5 more reviews before I post the next chapter, so I know people are  
reading and liking this. Cheers!**

**TheRightWriter** - Sorry, I didn't get around to any fluffiness this chapter.  
There will be a taste of it next time, I promise. At this stage I am only  
planning on mentioning Harry and Ginny's relationship in passing, as I have  
done in this chapter, but that may change as the story progresses.

**Mariegurl** - Thanks for reviewing! The faster people post reviews, the  
faster I will post the next chapters.

**mj-hedwig13** - Thanks for your kind words. Not exactly sure what you mean  
by double-spacing. I used paragraph tags and they look fine on my computer.  
I have formatted the story so it is in a column, which I thought would be easier  
to read. Sorry if you had trouble reading it. Anyone else dislike the columns?  
I can leave it unwrapped if it makes it easier.

**Christine** - Thanks for your comments, but as you posted your review as an  
anonymous user and did not leave your email address, I can't contact you.


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